BILL NUMBER: AB 2886	CHAPTERED  09/27/00

	CHAPTER   727
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 24, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 23, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 8, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 29, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 19, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 1, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Kuehl

                        MARCH 9, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 25299.36, 25299.37, 25299.39.3, and
25299.51 of the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 13176,
13178, 13397.5, 13399.3 and 60318 of, and to add Article 5
(commencing with Section 13195) to Chapter 3 of Division 7 of, the
Water Code, relating to water.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2886, Kuehl.  Water quality.
   (1) Existing law authorizes a California regional water quality
control board to undertake or contract for corrective action and to
enter into oral contracts, if a situation relating to a petroleum
underground storage tank requires prompt action by that board to
protect human health or the environment.
   This bill would authorize the Department of General Services, at
the request of the State Water Resources Control Board (the board) or
a regional board, to enter into those contracts on behalf of the
board or a regional board and acting as the agent of the board or a
regional board.  The bill would make additional, related changes.
   (2) Existing law authorizes the board to expend the money in the
Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund for prescribed purposes,
including the payment of the costs of the regional board or local
agency for corrective action pursuant to specified provisions of law.

   This bill would instead authorize the board to expend those funds
to pay for the costs of corrective action pursuant to those
provisions.
   (3) The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (the act)
prescribes water quality requirements to be carried out by the
regional boards and the board and requires the analysis of any
material required by the act to be performed by a laboratory with a
prescribed accreditation.  The act prohibits any person or public
entity of the state from contracting with a laboratory for
environmental analyses for which the department requires registration
or accreditation, unless the laboratory holds a valid certificate of
registration or accreditation.
   This bill would require the analysis of any material required by
the act to be performed by a laboratory with specified certification
or accreditation and prohibit those entities from contracting with a
laboratory for environmental analyses for which the State Department
of Health Services requires certification or accreditation, unless
the laboratory holds a valid certification or accreditation.
   (4) The act requires the State Water Resources Control Board, in
conjunction with the State Department of Health Services and a panel
of experts established by the state board, to develop on or before
September 30, 2000, source investigation protocols for use in
conducting source investigations of storm drains that produce
exceedences of bacteriological standards established pursuant to
specified provisions of law.  Existing law requires the state board
to report to the Legislature, on or before March 1, 2001, on the
methods by which it intends to conduct source investigations of storm
drains that produce exceedences of bacteriological standards.
   This bill would extend the date for developing those source
investigation protocols to June 30, 2001, and would extend the date
for reporting on the methods of conducting source investigations of
storm drains to December 1, 2001.
   (5) The act provides that a remediating agency, as defined, that
has implemented an approved remediation plan shall not be deemed to
be responsible for the discharge of abandoned mine waste, as
prescribed.  Under the act, the term "remediating agency" does not
include any person or entity that is not a public agency, that,
before implementing an approved remediation plan, had a direct
financial interest in, or participated in, specified mining
operations.
   This bill would modify that provision to exempt any person or
entity that is not a public agency, that, before implementing an
approved remediation plan, owns or has owned a property interest,
other than a security interest, in the abandoned mined lands being
remediated, or is or has been legally responsible for, or had a
direct financial interest in, or participated in, those specified
mining operations.  The bill would provide that the provision, as
modified, clarifies, and is declaratory of, existing law.
   (6) The act, until January 1, 2001, establishes an enforcement
scheme with respect to minor violations of the act.
   This bill would delete that repeal date, thereby continuing
indefinitely that enforcement scheme.
   (7) The bill would authorize the board to require a person who is
submitting a report relating to a program administered by the board,
to the board, a regional board, or a local agency, to submit the
report in electronic format, as prescribed.  The bill would require
the board to adopt emergency regulations implementing an electronic
submission program for the submission of reports required pursuant to
existing law relating to underground storage tanks, as prescribed.
The bill would require the board to prepare and submit to the
Legislature a prescribed report and, except as otherwise provided,
would prohibit a state agency from requiring before July 1, 2003, the
electronic submission of certain reports in an electronic format
other than the electronic format prescribed by the bill's provisions.

   (8) The Water Replenishment District Act authorizes an operator of
a water-producing facility, under certain circumstances, to make
groundwater extractions that are not subject to any replenishment
assessment if the board of a water replenishment district determines
that there is a groundwater contamination problem.  The act
authorizes the board to require the submission of certain test
results from a board-approved laboratory.
   This bill would authorize the board to require the submission of
test results from a laboratory holding a valid certification or
accreditation.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 25299.36 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   25299.36.  The board, a regional board, or a local agency may
undertake or contract for corrective action pursuant to subdivision
(g) of Section 25299.37 or if a situation exists which requires
prompt action by the board, a regional board, or local agency to
protect human health or the environment.  At the request of the board
or a regional board, the Department of General Services may enter
into a contract on behalf of the board or a regional board and acting
as the agent of the board or a regional board.  Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, if a situation requires prompt action by the
board or a regional board to protect human health or the environment,
the board or a regional board may enter into oral contracts for this
work, and the contracts, whether written or oral, may include
provisions for equipment rental and, in addition, the furnishing of
labor and materials necessary to accomplish the work.  These
contracts for corrective action by the board or a regional board are
exempt from approval by the Department of General Services if the
situation requires prompt action to protect human health or the
environment.
  SEC. 1.3.  Section 25299.37 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   25299.37.  (a) Each owner, operator, or other responsible party
shall take corrective action in response to an unauthorized release
in compliance with this article and regulations adopted pursuant to
Section 25299.77.  In adopting regulations pursuant to Section
25299.77, the board shall develop corrective action requirements for
health hazards and protection of the environment, based on the
severity of the health hazards and the other factors listed in
subdivision (b).
   (b) Any corrective action conducted pursuant to this chapter shall
ensure protection of human health, safety, and the environment.  The
corrective action shall be consistent with any applicable waste
discharge requirements or other order issued pursuant to Division 7
(commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code, all applicable
state policies for water quality control adopted pursuant to Article
3 (commencing with Section 13140) of Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the
Water Code, and all applicable water quality control plans adopted
pursuant to Section 13170 of the Water Code and Article 3 (commencing
with Section 13240) of Chapter 4 of Division 7 of the Water Code.
   (c) (1) When a local agency, the board, or a regional board
requires an owner, operator, or other responsible party to undertake
corrective action, including preliminary site assessment and
investigation, pursuant to an oral or written order, direction,
notification, or approval issued pursuant to this section, or
pursuant to a cleanup and abatement order or other oral or written
directive issued pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section
13000) of the Water Code, the owner, operator, or other responsible
party shall prepare a work plan that details the corrective action
the owner, operator, or other responsible party shall take to comply
with the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) and the corrective
action regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25299.77.
   (2) The work plan required by paragraph (1) shall be prepared in
accordance with the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25299.77.
  The work plan shall include a schedule and timeline for corrective
action.
   (3) At the request of the owner, operator, or other responsible
party, the local agency, the board, or the regional board shall
review a work plan prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) and either
accept the work plan, if it meets the requirements of this section,
or disapprove the work plan if it does not meet those requirements.
If the local agency, board, or the regional board accepts the work
plan, it shall indicate to the owner, operator, or other responsible
party, the actions or other elements of the work plan that are, in
all likelihood, adequate and necessary to meet the requirements of
this section, and the actions and elements that may be unnecessary.
If the local agency, board, or regional board disapproves the work
plan, it shall state the reasons for the disapproval.
   (4) In the interests of minimizing environmental contamination and
promoting prompt cleanup, the responsible party may begin
implementation of the proposed actions after the work plan has been
submitted but before the work plan has received regulatory agency
acceptance, except that implementation of the work plan may not begin
until 60 calendar days from the date of submittal, unless the
responsible party is otherwise directed in writing by the regulatory
agency.  However, before beginning implementation pursuant to this
paragraph, the responsible party shall notify the regulatory agency
of the intent to initiate proposed actions set forth in the submitted
work plan.
   (5) The owner, operator, or other responsible party shall conduct
corrective actions in accordance with the work plan approved pursuant
to the section.
   (6) (A) The local agency, the board, or the regional board shall
advise and work with the owner, operator, or other responsible party
on the opportunity to seek preapproval of corrective action costs
pursuant to Section 2811.4 of Title 23 of the California Code of
Regulations or any successor regulation.  Regional board staff and
local agency staff shall work with the responsible party and fund
staff to obtain preapproval for the responsible party.  The fund
staff shall grant or deny a request for preapproval within 30
calendar days after the date a request is received.  If fund staff
denies a request for preapproval or fails to act within 30 calendar
days after receiving the request, an owner, operator, or other
responsible party who has prepared a work plan that has been reviewed
and accepted pursuant to paragraph (3), and is denied preapproval of
corrective action costs for one or more of the actions required by
the work plan, may petition the board for review of the request for
preapproval.  The board shall review the petition pursuant to Section
25299.56, and for that purpose the petition for review of a request
for preapproval of corrective action costs shall be reviewed by the
board in the same manner as a petition for review of an unpaid claim.

   (B) If the board receives a petition for review pursuant to
subparagraph (A), the board shall review the request for preapproval
and grant or deny the request pursuant to this subparagraph and
subparagraph (C).  The board shall deny the request for preapproval
if the board makes one of the following findings:
   (i) The petitioner is not eligible to file a claim pursuant to
Article 6 (commencing with Section 25299.50).
   (ii) The petitioner failed to submit one or more of the documents
required by the regulations adopted by the board governing
preapproval.
   (iii) The petitioner failed to obtain three bids or estimates for
corrective action costs and, under the circumstances pertaining to
the corrective action, there is no valid reason to waive the
three-bid requirement pursuant to the regulations adopted by the
board.
   (C) If the board does not deny the request for preapproval
pursuant to subparagraph (B), the board shall grant the request for
preapproval.  However, the board may modify the request by denying
preapproval of corrective action costs or reducing the preapproved
amount of those costs for any action required by the work plan, if
the board finds that the fund staff has demonstrated either of the
following:
   (i) The amount of corrective action reimbursement requested for
the action is not reasonable.  In determining if the fund staff has
demonstrated that the amount of reimbursement requested for an action
is not reasonable, the board shall use, when available, recent
experience with bids or estimates for similar actions.
   (ii) The action required in the work plan is, in all likelihood,
not necessary for the corrective action to comply with the
requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) and the corrective action
regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25299.77.
   (7) When the local agency, the board, or the regional board
requires a responsible party to conduct corrective action pursuant to
this article, it shall inform the responsible party of its right to
request the designation of an administering agency to oversee the
site investigation and remedial action at its site pursuant to
Section 25262 and, if requested to do so by the responsible party,
the local agency shall provide assistance to the responsible party in
preparing and processing a request for that designation.
   (d) Notwithstanding Section 25297.1, the board shall implement a
procedure that does not assess an owner, operator, or responsible
party taking corrective action pursuant to this chapter for the costs
of a local oversight program pursuant to paragraph (4) of
subdivision (d) of Section 25297.1.  The board shall institute an
internal procedure for assessing, reviewing, and paying those costs
directly between the board and the local agency.  At least 15 days
before the board proposes to disapprove a claim for corrective action
costs which have been incurred on the grounds that the costs were
unreasonable or unnecessary, the board shall issue a notice advising
the claimant and the lead agency of the proposed disallowance, to
allow review and comment.
   (e) A person to whom an order is issued pursuant to subdivision
(c), shall have the same rights of administrative and judicial appeal
and review as are provided by law for cleanup and abatement orders
issued pursuant to Section 13304 of the Water Code.
   (f) Until the board adopts regulations pursuant to Section
25299.77, the owner, operator, or other responsible party shall take
corrective action in accordance with Chapter 6.7 (commencing with
Section 25280) and the federal act.
   (g) If a person to whom an order is issued pursuant to subdivision
(c) does not comply with the order, the board, a regional board, or
the local agency may undertake or contract for corrective action and
recover costs pursuant to Section 25299.70.
   (h) The following uniform closure letter shall be issued to the
owner, operator or other responsible party taking corrective action
at an underground storage tank site by the local agency or the
regional board with jurisdiction over the site, or the board, upon a
finding that the underground storage tank site is in compliance with
the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) and with any corrective
action regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25299.77 and that no
further corrective action is required at the site:



     "(Case File Number)
       Dear (Responsible Party):

           This letter confirms the completion of a site
     investigation and corrective action for the underground
     storage tank(s) formerly located at the above-described
     location.  Thank you for your cooperation throughout this
     investigation.  Your willingness and promptness in
     responding to our inquiries concerning the former
     underground storage tank(s) are greatly appreciated.

           Based on information in the above-referenced file
     and with the provision that the information provided to
     this agency was accurate and representative of site
     conditions, this agency finds that the site investigation
     and corrective action carried out at your underground
     storage tank(s) site is in compliance with the requirements
     of subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 25299.37 of the
     Health and Safety Code and with corrective action
     regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25299.77 of the
     Health and Safety Code and that no further action related
     to the petroleum release(s) at the site is required.

          This notice is issued pursuant to subdivision (h)
     of Section 25299.37 of the Health and Safety Code.

          Please contact our office if you have any questions
     regarding this matter.

     Sincerely,


     (Name of Board Executive Director, Regional Board Executive
     Officer, or Local Agency Director)"

  SEC. 1.5.  Section 25299.39.3 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   25299.39.3.  The board, a regional board, or local agency shall be
permitted reasonable access to property owned or possessed by an
owner, operator, or responsible party as necessary to perform
corrective action pursuant to Sections 25299.36 and 25299.37.  The
access shall be obtained with the consent of the owner or possessor
of the property or, if the consent is withheld, with a warrant duly
issued pursuant to the procedure described in Title 13 (commencing
with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
However, in the event of an emergency affecting public health or
safety, or the environment, the board, a regional board, or local
agency may enter the property without consent or the issuance of a
warrant.
  SEC. 1.7.  Section 25299.51 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   25299.51.  The board may expend the money in the fund for all the
following purposes:
   (a) In addition to the purposes specified in subdivisions (c),
(d), and (e), for expenditure by the board for the costs of
implementing this chapter, which shall include costs incurred by the
board pursuant to Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 25299.80.1).
   (b) To pay for the administrative costs of the State Board of
Equalization in collecting the fee imposed by Article 5 (commencing
with Section 25299.40).
   (c) To pay for the reasonable and necessary costs of corrective
action pursuant to Section 25299.36, up to one million five hundred
thousand dollars ($1,500,000) per occurrence.  The Legislature may
appropriate the money in the fund for expenditure by the board,
without regard to fiscal year, for prompt action in response to any
unauthorized release.
   (d) To pay for the costs of an agreement for the abatement of, and
oversight of the abatement of, an unauthorized release of hazardous
substances from underground storage tanks, by a local agency, as
authorized by Section 25297.1 or by any other provision of law,
except that, for the purpose of expenditure of these funds, only
underground storage tanks, as defined in Section 25299.24, shall be
the subject of the agreement.
   (e) To pay for the costs of cleanup and oversight of unauthorized
releases at abandoned tank sites.  The board shall not expend more
than 25 percent of the total amount of money collected and deposited
in the fund annually for the purposes of this subdivision and
subdivision (h).
   (f) To pay claims pursuant to Section 25299.57.
   (g) To pay, upon order of the Controller, for refunds pursuant to
Part 26 (commencing with Section 50101) of Division 2 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code.
   (h) To pay for the reasonable and necessary costs of corrective
action pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 25299.37.
   (i) To pay claims pursuant to Section 25299.58.
  SEC. 2.  Section 13176 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   13176.  (a) The analysis of any material required by this division
shall be performed by a laboratory that has accreditation or
certification pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 100825)
of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101 of the Health and Safety Code.

   (b) No person or public entity of the state shall contract with a
laboratory for environmental analyses for which the State Department
of Health Services requires accreditation or certification pursuant
to this chapter, unless the laboratory holds a valid certification or
accreditation.
  SEC. 3.  Section 13178 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   13178.  (a) (1) On or before June 30, 2001, the state board, in
conjunction with the State Department of Health Services and a panel
of experts established by the state board, shall develop source
investigation protocols for use in conducting source investigations
of storm drains that produce exceedences of bacteriological standards
established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 115880 of the
Health and Safety Code.  The protocols shall be based upon the
experiences drawn from previous source investigations performed by
the state board, regional boards, or other agencies, and other
available data.  The protocols shall include methods for identifying
the location and biological origins of sources of bacteriological
contamination, and, at a minimum, shall require source investigations
if bacteriological standards are exceeded in any three weeks of a
four-week period, or, for areas where testing is done more than once
a week, 75 percent of testing days that produce an exceedence of
those standards.
   (2) The development of source investigation protocols pursuant to
paragraph (1) is not subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
   (b) On or before December 1, 2001, the state board, in conjunction
with the State Department of Health Services, shall report to the
Legislature on the methods by which it intends to conduct source
investigations of storm drains that produce exceedences of
bacteriological standards established pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code. Factors to be addressed
in the report shall include the approximate number of public beaches
expected to be affected by the exceedence of bacteriological
standards established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 115880
of the Health and Safety Code, as well as the costs expected for
source investigation of the storm drains affecting those public
beaches.  The report shall include a timeline for completion of
source investigations.
  SEC. 4.  Article 5 (commencing with Section 13195) is added to
Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Water Code, to read:

      Article 5.  Electronic Submission of Reports

   13195.  For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) "Public domain" means a format that may be duplicated,
distributed, and used without payment of a royalty or license fee.
   (b) "Report" means any document or item that is required for
submission in order for a person to comply with a regulation,
directive, or order issued by the state board, a regional board, or a
local agency pursuant to a program administered by the state board,
including, but not limited to, any analysis of material by a
laboratory that has accreditation or certification pursuant to
Article 3 (commencing with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of
Division 101 of the Health and Safety Code.
   13196.  (a) The state board may require a person submitting a
report to the state board, a regional board, or a local agency to
submit the report in electronic format.  The state board may also
require that any report submitted in electronic format include the
latitude and longitude, accurate to within one meter, of the location
where any sample analyzed in the report was collected.
   (b) The state board shall adopt a single, standard format for the
electronic submission of analytical and environmental compliance data
contained in reports.  In adopting a standard format, the state
board shall only consider formats that meet all of the following
criteria:
   (1) Are available free of charge.
   (2) Are available in the public domain.
   (3) Have available public domain means to import, manipulate, and
store data.
   (4) Allow the importation of data into tables indicating
relational distances.
   (5) Allow the verification of data submission consistency.
   (6) Allow for inclusion of all of the following information:
   (A) The physical site address from which the sample was taken,
along with any information already required for permitting and
reporting unauthorized releases.
   (B) Environmental assessment data taken during the initial site
investigation phase, as well as the continuing monitoring and
evaluation phases.
   (C) The latitude and longitude, accurate to within one meter, of
the location where any sample was collected.
   (D) A description of all tests performed on the sample, the
results of that testing, any quality assurance and quality control
information, any available narrative information regarding the
collection of the sample, and any available information concerning
the laboratory's analysis of the sample.
   (7) Fulfill any additional criteria the state board determines
appropriate for an effective electronic report submission program.
   13197.5.  (a) The state board shall adopt, not later than March 1,
2001, emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code implementing a statewide program for the
electronic submission of reports required pursuant to Chapter 6.7
(commencing with Section 25280) of Division 20 of the Health and
Safety Code and Article 4 (commencing with Section 25299.36) of
Chapter 6.75 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, for those
reports that contain soil or water chemistry analysis by a laboratory
certified or accredited pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with
Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101 of the Health
and Safety Code.
   (b) (1) The adoption of any regulations pursuant to this section
that are filed with the Office of Administrative Law on or before
March 1, 2001, shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for
the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and
general welfare.
   (2) (A) Except as specified in subparagraph (B), subdivisions (e)
to (h), inclusive, of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code apply to
any emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this section.
   (B) Notwithstanding the 120-day period imposed in subdivision (e)
of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the state board shall have
one calendar year from the effective date of any emergency
regulations adopted pursuant to this section to comply with that
subdivision.
   (c) Regulations adopted pursuant to this section may not require
the electronic submission of reports before July 1, 2001, but may
require the electronic submission of reports on or after July 1,
2001.
   (d) Regulations adopted pursuant to this section may specify
either of the following as the required reporting format:
   (1) The Geographic Environmental Information Management System
format as described in the report submitted to the state board on
July 1, 1999, by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
entitled, "Evaluating the Feasibility of a Statewide Geographic
Information System."
   (2) The Electronic Deliverable Format (EDF) developed by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, as the same may be revised
from time to time.  The specification of the EDF as the reporting
format shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (b)
of Section 13196.
   13198.  (a) On or before January 1, 2003, based upon an evaluation
of the statewide underground storage tank electronic report
submission project conducted pursuant to Section 13197.5, the state
board shall report to the Legislature and the Governor on the
feasibility and appropriateness of extending the electronic report
submission project to all state board programs.
   (b) Before July 1, 2003, no state agency may require the
electronic submission of any soil or water chemistry analysis by a
laboratory certified or accredited pursuant to Article 3 (commencing
with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101 of the
Health and Safety Code in an electronic format other than the
electronic format specified by the state board pursuant to this
article.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the state
board may require the electronic submission of reports for programs,
other than programs described in subdivision (a) of Section 13197.5,
in a format approved by the state board.
  SEC. 5.  Section 13397.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   13397.5.  Unless the context requires otherwise, the following
definitions govern the construction of this chapter:
   (a) "Abandoned mine waste" means the residual of soil, rock,
mineral, liquid, vegetation, equipment, machines, tools, or other
materials or property on, or discharging from, abandoned mined lands,
directly resulting from, or displaced by, surface mining operations.

   (b) "Abandoned mined lands" has the same meaning as "abandoned
surface mined area," as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 2796 of the Public
Resources Code.
   (c) "Acid rock drainage" means acid waste discharge that results
from the oxidation of metal sulfide in minerals associated with mined
lands.
   (d) "Mined lands" has the same meaning as set forth in Section
2729 of the Public Resources Code.
   (e) "Oversight agency" means either the state board or a regional
board.  If the remediating agency is a regional board, the state
board shall be the oversight agency.  If the remediating agency is
the state board, the oversight agency shall be the Site Designation
Committee established pursuant to Section 25261 of the Health and
Safety Code.  The committee shall have the powers and functions
specified in Chapter 6.65 (commencing with Section 25260) of Division
20 of the Health and Safety Code, except that neither the
chairperson of the state board, nor any designee, shall participate
in the actions of the committee relating to the state board as a
remediating agency.
   (f) "Remediating agency" or "agency" means any public agency, or
any private individual or entity acting under a cooperative agreement
with a public agency, that prepares and submits a remediation plan
in accordance with this chapter.  "Remediating agency" includes, but
is not limited to, a public agency that holds title to abandoned
mined lands for the purpose of remediating those lands or that is
engaging in remediation activities that are incidental to the
ownership of the lands for other than mining purposes.  "Remediating
agency" does not include any person or entity that is not a public
agency, that, before implementing an approved remediation plan, owns
or has owned a property interest, other than a security interest, in
the abandoned mined lands being remediated, or is or has been legally
responsible for, or had a direct financial interest in, or
participated in, any mining operation, including exploration,
associated with the abandoned mined lands being remediated.
   (g) "Remediation plan" means a plan to improve the quality of the
waters of the state that have been directly and adversely impacted by
abandoned mine waste.
          SEC. 6.  Section 13399.3 of the Water Code is amended to
read:
   13399.3.  On or before January 1, 2000, the state board shall
report to the Legislature on actions taken by the state board and the
regional boards to implement this chapter and the results of that
implementation.  Each regional board shall provide the state board
with the information that the state board requests to determine the
degree to which the purposes described in subdivision (a) of Section
13399 have been achieved.
  SEC. 7.  Section 60318 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   60318.  (a) If the board determines, by resolution, that there is
a problem of groundwater contamination that a proposed program will
remedy or ameliorate, an operator may make extractions of groundwater
to remedy or ameliorate that problem exempt from any replenishment
assessment if the water is not applied to beneficial surface use, its
extractions are made in compliance with all the terms and conditions
of the board resolution, and the board has determined in the
resolution either of the following:
   (1) The groundwater to be extracted is unusable and cannot be
economically blended for use with other water.
   (2) The proposed program involves extraction of usable water in
the same quantity as will be returned to the underground without
degradation of quality.
   (b) The resolution may provide those terms and conditions the
board deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, restrictions
on the quantity of extractions to be so exempted, limitations on
time, periodic reviews, requirement of submission of test results
from a laboratory holding a valid certification or accreditation as
required by Section 13176, and any other relevant terms or
conditions.  Upon written notice to the operator involved, the board
may rescind or modify its resolution.  The rescission or modification
of the resolution shall apply to groundwater extractions occurring
more than 10 days after the rescission or modification.  Notice of
rescission or modification shall be either mailed first-class mail,
postage prepaid, at least two weeks prior to the meeting of the board
at which the rescission or modification will be made to the address
of record of the operator or personally delivered two weeks prior to
the meeting.  All board determinations shall be final.
  SEC. 8.  Subdivision (f) of Section 13397.5 of the Water Code, as
amended by Section 4 of this act, clarifies, and is declaratory of,
existing law.
